Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya stepped to defuse a tense standoff between Indore Municipal Corporation officials and local coporators after a ward survey triggered clashes, viral video footage and multiple FIRs.
Vijayvargiya convened a closed-door meeting at Residency Kothi that brought together mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav, BJP city president Sumit Mishra, minister Tulsi Silawat, district collector Shivam Verma, police commissioner Santosh Kumar Singh and municipal commissioner Dilip Kumar Yadav and several local representatives. Officials said the meeting -- called amid growing public attention to the episode -- was primarily on repairing roads and filling potholes, though it also aimed to calm political tensions sparked by the survey.
The trouble began in Ward 74 when ARO Shailendra Singh and a municipal team conducted a field survey. According to corporation sources, the exercise led to an altercation between municipal staff and residents associated with corporator Sunil Hardiya. The incident escalated to Bhanwarkua police station, where multiple FIRs were registered police sources say three FIRs were lodged and both sides filed complaints.
A video shot inside the Bhanwarkua station and widely shared on social media shows Mayor-in-Council member Abhishek Sharma (Bablu) on the phone with a police officer, warning that the matter would spread across the city if the municipal commissioner persisted. The clip was re-shared by Congress PCC chief Jitu Patwari on his X account, further amplifying the controversy.
Speaking to reporters after the Residency Kothi meeting, Vijayvargiya downplayed the conflict and said he had stepped in to sit everyone down and resolve it.
It s not a big issue; sometimes these things happen and they get sorted by talking, he said.
Commissioner Yadav had ordered the survey as part of a revenue/asset assessment drive, officials said. Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav, however, told the media the corporation should not conduct door-to-door action without informing elected representatives. This operation was not started on my direction. Going into people s homes without informing the representative causes consequences, he said, calling the night s events unfortunate. Bhargav added the corporation will now pause the current revenue collection campaign and reissue a Standard Operating Procedure after consulting corporator and officials.
Pothole filling will be completed within a month: Kailash
Residency Kothi meeting said one immediate outcome was a directive to prioritise patching and filling potholes across the city work that municipal and public works departments share responsibility for. Minister Vijayvargiya told reporters the city s pothole-filling drive had been interrupted by rain and would be completed within a month; he stressed that some problem spots fall under the National Highways Authority, PWD or Metro jurisdiction, and officers would coordinate accordingly.
